Think of your organization as more than just a job. It’s a place where people have an experience; so what could that experience be like? … Think about your organization beyond being just an employer. [It’s] a destination to go to.”

-Kim Ades, President and Founder of Frame of Mind Coaching™

Recruitment Methods You Haven’t Thought Of

Mike Byland is a third generation owner of Bylands Nurseries Ltd., a family-run wholesale plant nursery. Bylands has been in business for over 60 years and currently farms 500 acres of land. However, the recruitment of new and skilled employees has been a relatively recent struggle of theirs.

The labor market is tight, the work can be physically draining and the employment is seasonal.

In his recent interview on Resilience Radio with host Kim Ades, President and Founder of Frame of Mind Coaching™, Mike shared his recruitment dilemma. Check out Kim’s response below.

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The #1 Trait of Wildly Successful Leaders

Recruitment Strategies for Your BusinessMike: What are some of the best strategies that you’ve seen for people to add to their team and get the right fit? Do you have any strategies for recruitment that you would recommend?

Kim: Number one, I think that referrals are greatly underestimated. You have people in your organization, and if you ask them, “Bring three people to the table,” maybe not all three are going to be [ideal recruits], but I think that that’s the best source of your next person, especially for an organization like yours.

The second thing is, I think partnerships are super important. So as I listen to you, I think [about] my daughter [who] goes to McGill University in Quebec. [She just spent part of her summer working on a farm in Costa Rica.] Yes, it’s in Eastern Canada, but how many people, how many young people, are dying for an adventure? They want to travel, they want to go somewhere new, they want to live somewhere new. And what would it be like if you accommodated that for the summer and they [could] come back year after year after year? It’s kind of like summer camp in a way.

Recruiting for More than a Job
You need to think of your organization as more than just a job. It’s a place where people have an experience; so what could that experience be like and what could be so addictive that they want to come back over and over again? And that may be the relationships that they form with one another, it may be what happens after hours, it may be that Bylands creates a sports team or something that creates a community for them to really want to be a part of. I think you need to think about your organization beyond being just an employer. You have to think about it as a destination to go to.

I’m probably a little bit biased because I’m thinking of my daughter and I know what attracts her. It’s outdoor activity − she loves to go canoeing, climb mountains, etc. So if there’s a program around it, man, she’s there in a minute. And she’s one of the hardest working people I know. You want people just like her and you want them to come back year after year after year and grow in your organization. You have to offer something more than a job.

Mike: Okay. I think that’s very valuable and that differentiation, I think, is key in the future. And I think that that’s what a lot of millennials are looking for.

Kim: Absolutely. And you know what, if you really want, I’d be happy to connect you with her, and you can just ask her, “What would make you come here year after year? What would it have to be like?” That’s an interesting question to ask the target market of people that are bright and dedicated and educated and hardworking. In fact, ask the people in your organization who are superstars, “What makes you come back here year after year? What’s in it for you?” and really leverage that.

Mike: Yeah. I think that’s great advice.

Frame of Mind Coaching™ and Modern Recruiting
When thinking about recruitment, ask yourself, “What is uniquely awesome about my business that will attract ideal candidates? And which top performers in my company might know others just like them?” It’s this kind of out-of-the-box thinking that will help you hire your next superstar employee. It’s also this type of thinking that we help our clients master.

If you are struggling to find and hire new employees, know that it’s your thinking that’s getting in your way, not the labor market. In fact, this holds true for virtually all of the struggles that we face in life. To learn more about how we help our clients change their thinking in order to yield extraordinary results, take our assessment.